8 Reasons to Bring Your Own

October 24 2014

If you've ever pondered the question -- "How much of an impact does my morning to-go cup of coffee really make?" -- you're not alone. It's a good inquiry, and we're happy that people are mindfully considering the impact of their actions. All of that said, we believe most people are still not aware of just how much waste our nation generates. That leads us to also believe that it's incredibly important to impart this knowledge on those in the world who can spread the numbers and encourage others to bring their own containers.

Here are eight reasons to bring your own wherever you go, based on eight sets of numbers that reflect accepted estimates based on waste stream reporting throughout advocacy and academic work.

1. If we all stopped using to go cups, we would save 160 million paper cups every day.

2. Americans use 1,838 disposable cups every second.

3. The average American family throws away a car load of plastic every month.

4. The average American family throws away about 60 plastic water bottles a month.

5. The average American family throws away about 720 plastic water bottles a year.

6. The average American throws away about 170 plastic water bottles per year.

7. The average American throws away 4.5 pounds of trash per day.

8. Americans use more than 58 billion paper cups each year. That’s about 182 cups for every person in the country.